Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 6, 1993 TAG: 9305060382
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY JO SHANNON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The pink tint of her eyeglass frames matched the color of the robe she wore on a recent day.
"That's the `Smartwear Look,' "she said. "Irving Saks insisted that all Smartwear employees have `The Smartwear Look.' He made it easy - we got a nice discount."
Layne was a milliner for 35 years. She retired at 77, when the millinery department at Smart-wear-Irving Saks was phased out.
Prior to that, she worked at Lazarus and Hornes. "I made lots of young women happy," she recalled recently from her room at Avante nursing home. Besides creating fashionable hats, she also made wedding veils, including those for her three granddaughters.
Nannie Layne lived alone in her seven-room home until 1990 when she fell at the head of the stairs.
"I got up and went downstairs, had my breakfast and fed my cat. But when my daughter came to take me to the beauty shop, and I told her what happened, she insisted on taking me to the hospital to be checked."
No bones were broken, but the doctor felt she should not be alone, so she checked in at Avante. She is satisfied with life at the home, where she immediately was elected president of the Resident Council. The group meets monthly to "discuss what we like and don't like."
How long will her term last? "I guess as long as I'm willing to do it," she said.
"I call the meetings to order and after devotions, we talk and listen. We record everything and try to get the residents to open up and say how they feel."
One of three parties held in Layne's honor during April was a "Resident of the Month" party attended by all residents of Avante.
First Baptist Church, where she has been a member for 67 years, celebrated with a party planned by her longtime friend, Alma Hunt. She also enjoyed a family celebration where a picture of her with her youngest great-great-grandchild was taken.
Sadly missed at the party were Layne's three children - two sons and a daughter - for Nannie Layne has outlived all her children. Her youngest son died 11 years ago at age 62; her oldest child, also a son, died at age 73 in 1988. Just one month before her centennial celebration, she lost her only daughter, Margaret Layne Griggs.
"It's sad [surviving your offspring]," she said. "You miss them terribly. But you have the pleasure of remembering all the good times you had with them. It's like living it all over, only now you have time to focus on the details. Sometimes when things first happen, you're so busy and in such a rush, you don't have time for that. Now all the details come back."
A strong personal religious faith also has sustained her. "I've been a church member since I was 8 years old," she said. "First in Lynchburg, where I was born, and then at First Baptist here in Roanoke."
She was born Nannie Walker, daughter of a cabinet maker in Lynchburg. Her mother died in childbirth when Nannie was 4 years old, and her father later remarried.
"My stepmother was the one I remembered as mother," she said. "I was right much of a tomboy when I was a child. We had to make our own fun. I loved standing on my head and doing tumble-sets."
At 19, Nannie married Richard Layne, a harness maker. "He had to change occupations when the cars came in," she said.
"He took up construction work and painting."
Her husband died in 1959.
Among the many memories that entertain her each day, a visit to her half-sister in Florida stands out.
"A fog prevented landing in Jacksonville," she said. "The airline put me up in a hotel in Miami. I remember hearing beautiful bird songs and wondering what birds would be singing at 2 a.m. I discovered there was an aviary in the hotel, and I had been hearing over 100 canaries."
Although her children are no longer here to look after her, Nannie has many friends and family who visit her regularly. Three grandchildren live in Roanoke, and her son-in-law, Pat Griggs, is a great comfort, she said.
A niece, Elizabeth Williams, "has taken care of me since Margaret's death."
She is looking forward to having three of her 21 grandchildren graduate from high school this year.
Except for a hearing aid, poor vision and arthritis in her knees, Nannie enjoys good health. She uses a wheelchair to get about, propelling it by scooting her feet on the floor for exercise.
She misses sewing but thinks she will try to take up crocheting again because "you use your fingers, and you don't have to see too well."
by CNB